Usually, an air-breathing Hall effect thruster comprises:
a nozzle for collecting, accelerating, and ejecting particles by the thruster when it is in operation;
an electric circuit comprising an anode, a cathode downstream from the anode, and a voltage source for emitting electrons via the cathode and attracting electrons via the anode; and
a magnetic circuit for generating a magnetic field in the nozzle axially downstream from the anode, the magnetic field being directed in a direction that is substantially radial relative to the thrust axis.
By way of example, such a thruster is described in Document US 2003/0046921.
In practice, the nozzle is generally annular in shape to enable the magnetic circuit to generate a radial magnetic field. The nozzle thus comprises both an inside wall and an outside wall; the particles pass between these two walls.
In particular, because of that nozzle, a particularly large amount of the inside space of a space vehicle including such a thruster is already occupied.